Helicobacter pylori attachment-blocking antibodies protect against duodenal ulcer disease.

The majority of the world population carry the gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori. Fortunately, most individuals experience only low-grade or no symptoms, but in many cases the chronic inflammatory infection develops into severe gastric disease, including duodenal ulcer disease and gastric cancer. Here we report on a protective mechanism where H. pylori attachment and accompanying chronic mucosal inflammation can be reduced by antibodies that are present in a vast majority of H. pylori carriers. These antibodies block binding of the H. pylori attachment protein BabA by mimicking BabA's binding to the ABO blood group glycans in the gastric mucosa. However, many individuals demonstrate low titers of BabA blocking antibodies, which is associated with an increased risk for duodenal ulceration, suggesting a role for these antibodies in preventing gastric disease.

Pervasiveness of HLA allele-specific expression loss across tumor types.

BACKGROUND: Efficient presentation of mutant peptide fragments by the human leukocyte antigen class I (HLA-I) genes is necessary for immune-mediated killing of cancer cells. According to recent reports, patient HLA-I genotypes can impact the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy, and the somatic loss of HLA-I heterozygosity has been established as a factor in immune evasion. While global deregulated expression of HLA-I has also been reported in different tumor types, the role of HLA-I allele-specific expression loss - that is, the preferential RNA expression loss of specific HLA-I alleles - has not been fully characterized in cancer. METHODS: Here, we use RNA and whole-exome sequencing data to quantify HLA-I allele-specific expression (ASE) in cancer using our novel method arcasHLA-quant. RESULTS: We show that HLA-I ASE loss in at least one of the three HLA-I genes is a pervasive phenomenon across TCGA tumor types. In pancreatic adenocarcinoma, tumor-specific HLA-I ASE loss is associated with decreased overall survival specifically in the basal-like subtype, a finding that we validated in an independent cohort through laser-capture microdissection. Additionally, we show that HLA-I ASE loss is associated with poor immunotherapy outcomes in metastatic melanoma through retrospective analyses. CONCLUSIONS: Together, our results highlight the prevalence of HLA-I ASE loss and provide initial evidence of its clinical significance in cancer prognosis and immunotherapy treatment.

Prognostic factors for recurrence in patients with surgically resected non-small cell lung cancer.

Introduction: Patients with lung cancer receive treatment according to National Cancer Comprehensive Network (NCCN) standards. However, disease recurrence is reported in about 30% of patients during the first five years. Our study aimed to establish independent predictors of lung cancer recurrence. Material and methods: 104 patients with definitive treatment for non-small-cell lung carcinoma receiving standard adjuvant chemotherapy in the period 2014-2018 in our cancer center were retrospectively reviewed. The prognostic significance of five routine immunohistochemical (IHC) markers was examined. Results: During the follow-up period disease recurrence occurred in 42 (40.4%) of the 104 enrolled patients. The median recurrence-free survival was 56.3 months, range 4-84.0 months (95% CI = 46.866-65.683). The recurrence-free survival rate was 58.8%. The frequencies of locoregional recurrence, lung recurrence, kidney, bone, lymph nodes of the neck, liver, and brain recurrence were 23.8%, 21.5%, 16.7%, 9.5%, 9.5%, 9.5% and 9.5%, respectively. Conclusions: Using the Cox regression model, category T, histological differentiation, and smoking status were identified as independent predictors of disease recurrence. The studied biological markers (PD-L1, Ki67, p53, epidermal growth factor receptor, and ALK) did not help the model predict disease recurrence. For statistical reliability, it is necessary to conduct a study on a larger cohort of patients and compare the mutual influence of several biomarkers.

Toluidine blue for the detection of sentinel lymph nodes in patients with thyroid cancer.

Introduction: Thyroid cancer (TC) demonstrates steady growth in incidence worldwide and remains an urgent problem in oncology. The detection of sentinel lymph nodes (SLN) with a selective dye and further histological examination in selecting the proper (personalized) surgical strategy and the volume of surgical intervention for clinically undetermined regional lymph nodes. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of intraoperative detection of SLN with a 1% toluidine blue aqueous solution. Material and methods: The significant tasks are to identify the pattern of TC metastases to cervical lymph nodes, to establish the prevalence of "skip" metastases, to compare the frequency of complications after total thyroidectomy and central neck dissection and lateral neck dissection with total thyroidectomy and central neck dissection, and to determine the feasibility of the application of lateral neck dissections in patients with papillary and follicular TC without metastases to regional lymph nodes (according to physical examination and ultrasound). Results: According to our data the SLN identification rate was 97.6%. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and frequency of false negative and false positive results was 89.2, 94.6, 88.03, 95.16, 10.8, and 5.4%, respectively. The most common metastasis was in the central neck compartment (83.7%). Skip metastases were determined in 4.9% of patients. Conclusions: The low prevalence of "skip" metastases and a significant risk of postoperative complications (wound exudation, lymphorrhagia, inflammation, hypoparathyroidism, paresis of the vocal cords) support the idea that lateral neck dissection is appropriate only in cases of confirmed metastases by physical examination and/or ultrasound at the preoperative stage.

REPARATIVE PROCESSES FEATURES IN TROPHIC ULCERS CAUSED BY DIABETES MELLITUS WITH THE USE OF PLATELET-RICH PLASMA.

OBJECTIVE: The aim: Was following: the improvement of the treatment results of the lower limbs ulcers, caused by the diabetes mellitus by using our technique of the platelet-rich plasma application; the study of the features of the morphological and immunohistochemical changes, and the effect of the growth factors of the platelet-rich plasma on the regeneration and healing of the ulcers. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Materials and methods: 38 patients with the trophic ulcers of the lower limbs, caused by diabetes mellitus were involved in the study. To assess the morphological features of the reparative processes before and after the treatment with PRP, the histological and immunohystochemical studies of the biopsy specimen of ulcers were carried out. RESULTS: Results: The total epithelialization of the ulcers in the patients from the main group was achieved on 46.5 day, and in the comparison group - 81.7 day. The light and optical study of the specimen of the main group, using the autologous platelet-rich plasma revealed the elimination of the destructive changes and reduction of the mixed-cellular infiltration compared to the patients from the comparison group. The immunohystochemical study revealed the increase of the growth factors receptors. CONCLUSION: Conclusions: The usage of the autologous platelet-rich plasma in the treatment of the trophic ulcers results in the rapid regeneration by the decrease of the destructive and inflammatory changes as well as the improvement of the vascularization.